that interview…

Iker was conceived in Bilbao on Aug. 31, 1980, when his parents were not married yet. His mother says, “I was 23 years old. I was young and that wasn’t in my plans. We got married when I was three months along and my family found out at the wedding. I wanted a girl.” She also says that Iker was a real crybaby and wouldn’t eat anything.

Months before giving birth, a shoe store employee in Bilbao asked his mother to give birth in Bilbao so that the child could one day play for Athletic. She decided to have him in Madrid so that she could have her family with her, although now she regrets it because Iker could have retired in Athletic “where they would have taken better care of him than in Madrid.”

The family was united… until Casillas decided in 2010 to remove his parents from the company he had set up with them to manage his real estate investments and which had assets worth 30 million euros. That opened a rift in the family even though Iker gave his parents five million, various real estate holdings and a monthly salary of 9,300 euros a month for 15 years. In exchange, he asked them to sign a non-agression agreement that is still in effect now. Under the agreement, they can’t speak disparagingly about him or anyone in his inner circle. This is why his parents are silent when we ask them about their relationship with his agent Carlo Cutropia and his girlfriend Sara Carbonero, with whom they have a “turbulent” relationship, according to sources.

Their dog is named – ironically – Chelsea. According to the interviewer, it’s because Mari Carmen really likes the area of Chelsea in London.

Then the parents start talking. They shouldn’t have.

José Luis on the interview: I don’t want any controversy. I don’t speak with my son, but I want the best for him and I don’t want anyone to take advantage of him. I only want his inner circle to advise him well so that he won’t end up cleaning bathrooms like that German world champion (Andreas Brehme) or broke like Victor Bahía.

José Luis on the scheduled tribute: we’re not thinking of going. We’re not going to take part in this show, this theater that Florentino rushed to put on to show that he has treated my son well when he hasn’t. We’ll only go if our son asks us to. It makes me envious to see how Pirlo left his team and I don’t understand why they couldn’t have done the same with my son. He’s given everything to the club and he’s been loyal.

Mari Carmen on Madrid’s treatment of Iker: he was treated well during the presidencies of Lorenzo Sanz and Calderón, but not during that of Florentino. This president never liked Iker because Iker is short. He likes tall goalkeepers. He was always obsessed with signing Buffon. My Iker put up with so much, he endured psychological pressure, he was treated differently than other players. He was vilified for five years. It’s all very unjust and it took a toll on his state of mind. I saw him suffer during many years. Florentino treated him very poorly behind the scenes. He behaved terribly with him and at least my son has been strong. It’s Florentino who is kicking him out because my son wanted to retire in Madrid.

Mari Carmen on Porto: Porto? My God. When it came out that he was looking for a house in Rome, I called him and I asked him what he was doing, to stay. So imagine how it’s like with Porto. It’s a second division B team for a person with the standing of Iker [way to start things off right for your son with his new club and fans!]. A world champion can’t end up in Porto. He could have ended up where he wanted and it wouldn’t have mattered to me if it were Barça because they’re gentlemen [WHAT???].

[José Luis interjects, “well Carmen, don’t say that about a second division B team, because I have respect for Porto. It’s true that Iker deserved to go to a team like Manchester United or PSG… but you can’t say that. If he listened to me, I would have advised him to end his contract with Madrid. And if they didn’t want him, then there should be a wrongful dismissal. But of course what Madrid did with this formula is save 25 million euros net in the settlement.]

José Luis on Iker receiving only one offer: that’s what they said. The club filters the offers and only passes on ones that benefit them. Everyone knows that any club in Europe would be interested in Iker. But of course the president doesn’t want him to go to a big club so that what happened with Morata or Morientes won’t happen again. He doesn’t want Iker to triumph. I would like for there to be a referendum with the socios like they did in Greece. Let’s see what they say.

José Luis on the booing in the Bernabéu: Florentino, with the support of some journalists and media outlets, began a smear campaign in 2010. There has been a campaign against him and I’ve suffered it as his father. For me, it’s a crime what some programs have done against him. Cristiano and Bale also made mistakes and no one put so much pressure on him. Florentino only loves the players that he bought. If you sign Bale and he sells less shirts than my son, then you will do whatever is possible for the fans to love one product more than another. Casillas has always been the icon of el madridismo and he was discredited so that others would be more loved. This is called marketing.

Mari Carmen on when the animosity from FP started: we realized it when it came time for his first big contract in 2005. Instead of renewing his contract several years before it ended, Florentino waited until it was about to expire. I told Iker, “if your boss waits until the last day to renew your contract, it’s because he doesn’t want you.” His agent Ginés Carvajal told us that the president was only willing to give us a certain amount and we rejected it. Our son was afraid of ending up with nothing but we convinced him to wait. At that time he was listening to us and in the end we managed to get 200 million more out of the president. Iker was one of the galácticos and we didn’t want him to make less than Roberto Carlos. My son got pissed off at Carvajal because he only thought of Raúl [Carvajal was also Raúl’s agent] and didn’t do anything to get a better contract for us.

On Ramón Calderón: he was a gentleman, not like Florentino. He decided to renew Iker’s contract even though there were still three years remaining on the one Iker signed with Florentino. Calderón told him he was worth it and gave him 1.5 billion pesetas. I asked my son how much he wanted, he asked what we thought, and we told him not a peseta less than Raúl. And that’s how it went. Carvajal didn’t do anything.

On the lawsuit against Carvajal: [after this negotiation, Casillas fired Carvajal, who then demanded that he pay the commission of the contract (around five million euros). Iker said no, and the agent filed a lawsuit. Iker and his parents believed that this commission should have been paid by the club.] Iker asked us to sue the club to strengthen the case because in 98 percent of the cases the club takes on that responsibility.

During the first year of Mourinho’s time as manager, he kept saying that Iker was the best goalkeeper in the world. But that changed when the club saw that we were going to continue with the lawsuit.

[The negotiations lasted until April 2012. It was because of this situation that Iker didn’t sleep that night Madrid played Bayern Munich in the semifinals of the Champions League when Sergio Ramos sent the penalty shot into space.] My son was very nervous because Madrid pressured him to make us withdraw the suit and the hearing was the day after the game. We kept Madrid in suspense.

[Finally, Iker decided on the day of the hearing to ask his parents to withdraw the lawsuit against Real Madrid. Although Iker gave in, his parents say that the situation caused Florentino’s hate for their son to grow and changed Mourinho’s attitude towards Iker. In December 2012, Iker was benched. His parents say that was a humiliation and they haven’t been back to the Bernabéu since.]

On the situation with Mourinho: my son is not a saint, but he’s also not a mole. The whole thing about the passing of information to the press was part of the club’s smear campaign.

On the hand injury: Arbeloa is protected by the president. Florentino used him against my son.

On Diego López: Diego is not a better goalkeeper than my son even though Paco Buyo has spent months and months defending him because he’s also from Galicia.

NO ONE comes out of this interview looking good, not Iker, not his parents and not Florentino. The Casillas family just ends up looking like a bunch of money grubbers who are completely out of touch with reality.

[UPDATE: Mari Carmen spoke with COPE’s “Tiempo de Juego” on Sunday. She apologized for what she said about Porto, thanked the club for signing her son and added that she hopes he triumphs there. She also revealed that she spoke with Iker after he found out about the content of the interview. She said she told him she was sorry, and he understood.]

There are many examples of players with meddling money grubbing family, but this seriously takes the cake. I am actually sad for him that his family has deteriorated like this. It also, sadly, explains a lot.

Even if Iker demanded too much money from the club, he deserved a proper farewell ceremony like Xavi, Gerrard and Pirlo!!!!!!!! I am so furious and frustrated at the whole situation. Iker undoubtedly deserved to be cheered on by the stadium full of fans. Literally heartbroken. I cried with him during the press conference.

I disagree strongly. For one thing, no one should ever hold what a parent says against their son (What is this? Bible class?), especially as they are reportedly not on speaking terms. So Iker doesn’t come out of this interview looking like anything.

And how does one angry interview wipe out 25 years of service? Madrid fans are ungrateful and should have behaved better, not booed the captain. Iker was cheered in away stadiums over the last season, not in his own stadium. That’s a disgrace. Some interview from two angry parents who express was I think many Madrid fans think about this situation, is not a disgrace. It’s what two people happen to think.

I still can’t believe Xabi got the farewell he did, leaving so suddenly, and for a great European rival, having handed in a transfer request – with a club legend at his side, at a specially called press conference-love-in – while Iker is shunted out the back door, in tears.

Alvaro Arbeloa, a talentless-dressing-room-nuisance, will proably retire here, and Iker won’t. Let’s all get our knickers in a twist over that.

It just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it? It’s bad enough that Iker has left, then there was that heartbreaking presser and the half-hearted send off, now this? Ugh.

You’re right, NO ONE comes out of this looking good, but Iker’s parents definitely come off looking the worst. I don’t understand why they thought to do this interview and say what they said? What good did they think would come of it? I agree with some of it, especially about the treatment of Iker, but so much of it seems to come from greed and bitterness. While we don’t know the real reason Iker excluded his parents from his company, a lot of this interview kind of already explains that.

It’s so bad that I’m now even considering that maybe it is a good thing that Iker has left. That’s something I never EVER EVER thought I would say.